Novel Writing Pt. 2: Spawning Stories, World Maps, & More

Hi there!

Michelle here and we’re back with part two of this gaming-themed series on novel writing.

Just as a catch-up, I’ve begun a blog series inspired by teaming up with, rather than competing against other novel writers; no more PvP (“player vs. player” for us gaming n00bs). I, as well as a friend and writing mentor of mine, Kevin Howarth, are sharing our experiences in novel writing, specifically within the fantasy genre.

If you’d like to rewind and read part one first, head back to the “title menu” here: Part One

If you’re ready to continue game play, keep on reading.

Today, our focus is on the details; building out stories with geography, history, and character.

Let’s go!

Writing in the Fantasy Genre (I left this one to the Pro)

There are a lot of things you can get away with in fantasy that you can’t in other genres, including word count, number of characters, and plot lines that can go in many directions. Fantasy genre expectations are different.

“The Lord of the Rings” set the tone for fantasy. It was a continuous story across three books set in a different world and enriched with an

extensive history. People began to replicate this model. There is still an expectation today that fantasy novels are meant to be trilogies or long series. These conventions mean longer stories, which means more characters and more subplots. Examples of this include series like “The Wheel of Time,” “Game of Thrones,” and “Harry Potter.”

Many people think of these fantasy conventions as unique, but if you go back further in literary history, Charles Dickens would write very long novels with tons of characters. Other examples include “Les Misérables,” Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Dumas, and Thackeray. In the 19th century, there was no TV, radio, or magazines. But people still wanted long, engaging stories. They wanted characters they could get to know over a long period of time. It’s the same reason we binge watch TV.

Geography: Where Do You Start?

I create a rough map of the world. Even though I’m the worst drawer in the world, I actually drew the world out to see what it looks like. It’s very rough, but I basically just work with a rough map of the world. Then, even though I don’t go at first into a lot of detail, I usually sketch out the different races and ethnicities on the planet, the different continents, major cities, and any major landmarks on the planet. I want to get a sense of the planet’s geography and the beings that live there.

You know, it’s funny… I’m an artist, and thus far, I’ve still drawn a less than ideal map. I mean, for now, it’s just a rough idea, right? As for structure, I take from the world I know. I can’t exactly explain too much about what my book’s world looks like as that gives away some of the story, but I can say that using the planet Earth as a basis of my fantasy realm helps immensely.

I’ve also drawn out my continents and countries so I can understand how the different areas interact, who might trade with whom, where my characters might travel, what I will name things based on where they are… etc. It helps me write the history as well as the plot, too!

History: Origin Stories

I like to start building a timeline, even if it’s sketchy at first, starting back to ancient days and filling in the history up until the present.

Some of these major historical events are inevitably going to come up throughout the novel, so it’s good to have some linchpin data points as a starting point.

History in my world is based on the history of the world we live in! I’ve learned a lot about the “real world” from the research I’ve done. My goal is to educate people on things that they may not have known about through fictional retellings, or at least make people curious about our world’s history. I believe you can learn a lot from the past, so to me, history is an important investment!

And, like Kevin said, I think it’s important to know the history so that when things come up, you’re ready to explain them, or mold your characters’ actions around them!

The Rules of the Realm

For my particular fantasy world, I’ve had the advantage of thinking about it for 25 years. To put it mildly, I’ve put a lot of mind share into it.

I have eclectic interests, and I like to incorporate random things I like into my world. I’ll blend things like ancient Hindu scripture with quantum physics.

I often play with the concept of parallel worlds, a real physics concept. I enjoy coming up with an "out there" idea that also has to be consistent with how physics might operate. This is where science fiction inspires me. You have to be creative within realistic limitations.

For example, I use both spirituality and science to restrict my idea of magic. Hindu scripture has this idea of three planes of enlightenment. First, there is the material world with the reality we know. On a higher mental level, there is the world of energy that people can manipulate. Even higher is mastery of the mind, which also allows for manipulating other people’s minds through dreams, astral planes, or parallel worlds. So, on Earth, all people can generally only operate materially. For example, I can’t control energy and lift up my laptop with my mind.

On my fantasy novel’s planet, wizards can use the second level to manipulate energy. That’s “magic” to us.

At the mind level, characters can enter the dream world or the parallel worlds where their soul leaves their body. Almost like tuning into different radio stations, they can tune into different worlds. It’s not perfect and I still have many details to flesh out, but that’s kind of the idea. Plus, I’d rather not give too many details away!

Most everything in my novel, rule-wise, follows the laws of Earth as we know it. I try to keep things straightforward for myself and future readers. What I’ve done, though, is bring in my personal faith and beliefs and made them a bit fantasy-like, or at least presented them in a way that helps others understand the things I, as well as many others in the real world, have experienced in the “unseen.” C.S. Lewis does this in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and I’m certain Tolkien had elements of his beliefs hidden in plain sight within “The Lord of the Rings.”

I'm a Christian and I believe in a physical and a spiritual realm. Though we interact with the physical on a daily basis, I believe that the spiritual realm affects us every day, regardless of whether we acknowledge its existence. A lot of my novel focuses on ideas laid out in the Bible, specifically in Ephesians 6:10-18; a.k.a “The Armor of God” passage. Check it out here; pretty powerful stuff: Link

In a nutshell, demons exist in my world as “The Army of Darkness.” Some people can see them, some people can’t, and there are a variety of ways in which one can come into to this “seeing” ability. There are layers in terms of beings, too, just like there are in the Bible (Though, mine don't follow exactly those found there... but, I'm still stunned when I find so many unusual creatures or beings mentioned in the stories! The first and last books of the Bible, Genesis and Revelation are great places to start for research on those unexpected beings!). Still unpacking the details, but right now, it’s getting interesting.

Characters: Writing a Villain

I enjoy envisioning a villain as a helpful character. A really good guy with a plan. Then, later, they suddenly make a power move and… uh oh. To me, that’s a scarier villain than someone more clearly evil.

I used to paint two-dimensional characters with a clear right and a clear wrong; it was not hard to figure out whose side I took. What I try to do now is mostly create characters who are just people with selfish agendas. I avoid characters who are objectively good and evil, though there are rare exceptions. But characters seem more real when their agendas arise from good intentions, but lead to bad results, conflicts, or good results that lead to unintended consequences. I try to let things happen with no judgement from me as the author or narrator.

If you’re like me, you may have a hard time writing a villain. I tend to idealize my characters and want only their best traits to shine through, even feeling guilty when I “cause” a character to do something bad. I’ve got to really work at creating villains.

Here’s something that helps me. Give your villain relatable struggles, a past… make them “human,” maybe even have them appear just like another character in your novel once upon a time. Show how circumstances and choices made the character deviate from that original path. Keep in mind that they don’t have to be a human being, but do give them dimension and make readers feel empathy for them.

I admit, I do appreciate a good vs. evil structure, but there isn’t a single person I know with all bad or all good qualities, excluding God and Satan, but that’s a whole other story. The bottom line; make them feel real.

Here are a few other ideas:

Have your main character be the hero and the villain (Bi-polar, parallel universe situation, etc.).
Switch the hero and the villain roles (Anyone ever seen “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?”… “Maleficent”?).
Convert a villain to the “good side”; then, decide if the good side is really what it seems to be.
Have your villain teeter on the good / bad scale throughout your story (unpredictable end result).

You may not even have a real villain “character” in your story. Or, you may have many. You could even have a situation be the source of “evil.” Remember, though; people like to relate to and root for someone, so there should be conflict in some fashion, villain or not

Like what you learned? Share with us in the comments!

Or, chat with us via Twitter. @ArtofChelleElle and @KevinHowarth. Let us know what you learned!

One last epic installment awaits us. Stay tuned.

Until then,

Chelle Elle

“Chelle Elle” has been drawing since she was really small. No restaurant napkin was ever safe when crayons were involved! Now, she writes and illustrates characters and other fun ideas to help her dreams and the dreams of others come to life! And yes, she takes on freelance projects and requests and would love to hear from you.

Email her today to learn more about how she can bring your ideas to life at:

ArtofChelleElle@gmail.com!

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